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BUCKHANNON -- Upshur County voters gave Del. Carl "Robbie" Martin the green light in Tuesday's West Virginia Primary Election.
Martin, a Republican, won with 1,563 votes, and is unchallenged in the fall general election. On Tuesday he beat challengers Gary Connell (1,030) and Charlene Dean (686).
"I'm very grateful for the opportunity to serve Upshur County for another two years and I'm grateful to God as well," he said.
Martin said his first term and especially the first year of that term was a learning curve for him.
"There is so much to do," he said. "Right after our first session, they appointed me as vice chair of a major committee. I feel like there is a lot more I can accomplish for Upshur County and bring that back to Upshur County and Buckhannon."
"We need to make it easier for West Virginians to get jobs," he said. "We need to encourage business and economic growth. We definitely need to focus on improving our education system in the state."
Martin said this campaign had been different from his first campaign due to not being able to go to public events or campaign door-to-door because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I was disappointed that I couldn't go door-to-door," he said. "I really just stuck to putting my message out on social media. I did some television ads and a few mailers. I just told everyone what I believe in, what I am about and what I have accomplished so far. It was definitely different because there was no dinners to go to an there was no contact."
Martin added, "I just want to thank Upshur County again and the support of my family. I'm very blessed. I'm ready to get back and work hard for Upshur County."
Also Tuesday night, Dr. Tammy Samples was elected to her third term on the Upshur County Board of Education with 3,563 votes.
"I'm just thankful that the voters of Upshur County trust me to see to the students' education and all that entails," she said. "There is a lot of work to do. We have a really good board. We work well together and I really thank we are moving Upshur County forward. I believe all the different backgrounds of the people on the board are important but I also believe it's important to have that education perspective and that's what I have that the others don't."
Samples is a former teacher in Upshur County Schools and now professor in the education department at West Virginia Wesleyan College.
"Right now we are focused on how we are going to come back in the fall with this pandemic," she said. "There is a committee for that right now and we are working. The guidelines seem to change nearly daily."
The school system is also implementing a 1:1 technology program through which all students will be issued an iPad in the fall.
"I'm excited to see where that goes and how we can enhance education for those students with that technology," she said.
Pat Long, who previously served three four-year terms and filled in for roughly 18 months of a resigning board member's term, won the second open seat on the board with 2,404 votes.
"I missed it," Long said in an interview Wednesday. "It was one of the few things besides working for the city (Long is a former street commissioner for the City of Buckhannon) that I really enjoyed."
Long said he didn't want to run against board member Alan Suder in the second district but when Suder did not seek re-election for a third time, Long began contemplating an election bid.
"It seemed like a good time to get back into it," he said.
He thanked the voters for giving him the chance to serve again.
"I am pleased that they felt like they still had enough confidence in me to go in there and do a good job for them," he said. "It's nice that people remembered and thought I might still be useful."
Like Samples, Long also sees navigating the next school year through the COVID-19 to be a hurdle to overcome.
"The biggest challenge is how to operate in a pandemic," he said. "It seems like they (the state) are kind of scrambling right now. They are trying to figure out how to do it. Here we are on a local level and we are going to have to figure out how to implement what the state says we should do.
"That is going to be a real challenge in the fall. Can we make it work so that it is really meeting the needs of the kids? The kids are the ones we are trying to reach and are we doing the right thing so they actually learn anything?"
Long said this will be a learning curve as the school system learns what works and what doesn't.
"People are going to have to be really patient with the process," he said.
Long will be joining Samples, Katie Loudin, Kristi Wilkerson and Dr. Greenbrier Almond on the board of education in July.
"I think we have a good board to work with," he said. "Those are all experienced people who really care about the students and care about the community. I'm anxious to work with them and build that relationship."
Graham Godwin received 2,050 votes and David Bush had 1,841 votes in the election.
There were no challengers for other county offices and they will be unopposed in the general election.
Republican Terry Cutright received 3,756 votes for Upshur County Commissioner.
Cutright is finishing his first term on the commission.
Prosecuting attorney Bryan Hinkle received 3,540 votes. Hinkle, a Republican, was appointed in 2019 to finish out the term vacated by David Godwin who retired.
Republican Virgil Miller received 3,844 votes for sheriff. Republican Dustin Zickefoose received 3,771 votes to assessor. Zickefoose is finishing up his first term as assessor. Dale Bennett received 3,646 votes for surveyor.
Magistrate Mike Coffman and Kay Hurst were also unopposed in the non-partisan ballot.
Coffman received 5,563 votes and Kay Hurst received 5,436 votes to win re-election.
Doug Bush was re-elected as conservation district supervisor with 5,247 votes.